The Michigan Insider LIVE with Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel

introduction five four and welcome folks to a special LIVE edition of the nine o'clock hour here on the Michigan Insider on the big 1050 wtka online on the big 1050.ti insider.com we told you we're gonna be doing things bigger and better than ever on the big 1050 and we brought this video Studio to you with big intentions with big guests with the best guest and we thought what better way to kick it off than to welcome Michigan's athletic director to the studio and he was gracious enough to spend some time with us here today so glad that Michigan athletic director Ward Manuel came to the studio today you don't do this very often W how you doing this morning I'm doing great Sam thanks for having me man this is uh I don't do it often but this is fun we talked about this and uh get together for a long time and I'm glad we we finally I finally made it and put it on my schedule to make it happen but thanks for invite me all right so I don't normally use notes but I had to use notes to get your your accolades together so as I look at them I see na CDA director's cup so there's four top three finishes including second place in 2019 of course the national championship in football ball last year 2021 women's gymnastics national champs uh multiple national championships and cheering dance competitions five National runnerup finishes in University of Michigan Sports you set uh Big 10 records in conference championships in consecutive years 13 in 2022 13 in 2023 I mean just smashing the competition and Big 10 championships won I think the next closest is Penn State I think they won what five so you're o you know over double the competition when it comes to conference championships W in 2022 and 2023 so normally in this day and age ward in the social media era people are on social media saying look at me this is what I did yeah I won all these championships my programs are doing this and my programs are doing that I don't see a w manual on I don't see a w manual social media account I don't see on Twitter I don't see you on the gram I mean why not why don't we see War Manuel more out front more out you know see your face in in these social media spaces well one because I also I'm I'm very proud of the accomplishments that Not Warde Manuel’s style to do a lot of media have happened uh but I'm really proud of the student athletes and the coaches and I My Philosophy having played Sports uh is that the student athletes and the coaches should get the credit now I help set it up I put things in place I hire people I support them I do different things to make sure they have what they can to win but ultimately is is their performance now I can mess it up too as an athletic director um but I I just just not my style Sam and I think you know I appreciate you you know talking about it and that's probably when people recognize it that that makes me feel better than me having to pound my chest and tell people what I do um our success speaks for what I do and so when when I hear that I smile because um there's a lot of effort that has gone into it there's a lot of ups and downs that go into it uh hard decisions have to be made uh but in many cases it's just supporting the student athletes and the coaches and that that's how I live my life and that's what I do as an athletic director uh and it's it it's driven success for uh the institutions I've been at and especially at Michigan so there is there's there's definitely um a Responding to negative narratives and attacks downside to not being out there as much though uh especially when it comes to to negative narratives right uh people tend to tell your story for you we do or we have over the last six months or so seeing you be out there more is that in response to some of the things that people have been saying is I'm curious why have you been out there more lately is that just because you feel like you need to be uh given how you know the trend line of hey you know what we need to be more promoting ourselves more or is it because hey it's a lot of people kind of telling your story in ways you you feel like it shouldn't be told the latter I mean you know for me I represent the University of Michigan and our athletic department and our student athletes and our staff and our coaches and in in the conversations that I've had with people over the past year or so the feeling is that um if if they're going to continue to attack me they're attacking the department and they're attacking our kids in ways that just don't understand don't have the information and a lot of times I can't give the information but a lot of the time Sam it is just so erroneous the stuff that is being put out there about decision-making about my perspective about how I look at things about who I like and who I don't and it's just it got to the point of being ridiculous I'm not g to SP respond to it individually but I am going to talk about the things and the successes that uh we have done and we have had here at the University of Michigan while certainly we've had our issues and certainly I'm not perfect and haven't made perfect decisions but the stuff that's out there by that people put out there is just it it's it's so crazy at times that it's it borderlines on a ridiculous but there are a lot of people who believe it and and I can't I can't understand that and all I could do is just go out and at times open up uh and answer questions that people have so that they understand that this is not something that um that we're doing in in a any negative way I I don't I don't think that way I don't I don't make decisions that way um and so for me yeah it is a reaction to the general sense not anything one and thing in particular but really just to be out there um at times to to actually speak the truth and and that's what I'm trying to do yeah so I know we can't get into Dealing with leaks of the NCAA investigation into Michigan uh the specifics of an ongoing investigation uh which is uh what's going on now with the recent notice of allegations that came down from the NCAA I do however want to talk about something related to it uh it feels like over the last couple of years related to these uh these investigations plural that there have been a series of leaks um there there there's a process related to NCAA investigations confidentiality confidentiality is a part of that process the schools uh members of the institutions at those schools the NCAA itself they are supposed to adhere to the confidentiality uh clause in the in the process and somewhere along the way someone or some people in that process are not adhering to that that and I'm I'm curious from your perspective you know what what recourse first what's your response to that and what recourse does an institution have when there seems to be a pattern of leaks like that because it seems like if if if a school is guilty of that there is uh there are Level levers of accountability that can be uh applied uh what if it's not the school that's guilty of that then what is there some sort of recourse that that can be taken I mean what's your response to that well first of all I think it's it's wholly unacceptable uh and ridiculous that people who have the information or get information about what's going on or leaking it to the press and to the public um and we look we try to find it uh we just don't let it pass we we actively try to find where are these leaks coming from um in particularly if it's if it's on on us the problem Sam as you know is it's hard to to get to the bottom of it doesn't mean we're g to stop trying because it it it really does not help the process it doesn't help the University of Michigan to go through it it doesn't help the NCAA whoever is leaking this it is not helping what we're trying to do to resolve the cases and it just put stuff out there and some cases some of it wrong some of it I can't respond to when it's wrong um we are under uh a sense of not being able to talk about it publicly but yet people are leaking things out there about the case it it's just disappointing and unnecessary and sad it feels like um from a PR perspective um the you know the court of public opinion uh and and shifting narratives um it's is one of the many ways that uh people use it to to cast you in a in a certain light it's one one of the the many things one of the many things that they I don't know if you take it that way but it certainly how it how it appears listen I I'm the leader of this athletic department and that comes with a responsibility of anything that happens uh is uh something that I have to deal with I don't I don't shy away from that Sam I never have and I never will I face things head on and I deal with things that are are in front of me but in some cases for people to to attribute things to me that that other people did to me is quite frankly just just trying to push off the responsibility uh and not deal with the reality of what has happened and who has caused that I can only deal with what happens in front of me I can only play the hand that I'm dealt I'm not dealing those cards with people and making individual decisions for them so I don't take it I don't I don't accept people saying well W's the blame for for this if that's the context that they want to put it in I'm not going to sit and accept it just like they wouldn't accept it if they were in this in the same situation the same people who want to indict me for what's happening in the department if they were sitting in this chair guess what they wouldn't either they deal with it just like I'm dealing with it and they would deal with it and I'm just in the way I'm dealing with that you disappointed that you have to handle something like this that you have to deal with things like this but the bottom line is uh you can't go back you can't change time it happens let's deal with it and let's move forward yeah so uh you know you have a you have a a feeling among some of your constituents I I count uh you know Michigan alums fans people who love Michigan as the constituents who feel like um you know they they feel like the the source of these leaks might be trying to shape the The Narrative of public opinion in favor of the NCAA and that this is uh this is to uh Curry favor uh for the uh for the governance in a way that makes it seem like Michigan is the is the the culprit here that is the villain here and so um they feel like this is a battle positions need to be taken a combative posture needs to be taken is an emotional response for for those people is the one that that is it feels good why isn't an emotional response and uh because I'm I'm trying to ask you a question that does not get to the does not get to the meat of the specifics of a case right Is fighting the NCAA tooth and nail the answer? but I I'm I'm I'm asking you about approach when you are dealing with um when you're dealing with a with a case and you feel like you have a case why isn't it just why isn't it the right answer just to fight just to just to battle why isn't it just let's let's do War let's Sue let's let's fight because that's what a lot of Michigan people just want you to do let's let's just fight them let's just sue them to the hill let's just try to send them into bankruptcy let's try to let's just try to end the NCAA why isn't that the right posture to take at every turn because you know that's what a lot of Michigan people want you to do well first of all we're gonna fight when we need to fight but also we're going to where we have made mistakes we're gonna admit them and deal with it and so I don't want people to think because we don't talk about it publicly and I and I can't that we're not going to fight for what we think is right for the University of Michigan and for the people that are here we are but at the same time we have to also understand if we do do things against the rules that we know are against the rules we need to admit it and move forward and deal with it and so there there is a duality to that Sam there there is the sense that you have uh a responsibility to adhere to to rules that we say we're going to participate in but when it gets to a point where we feel like it is over the top or we need to fight something we certainly will and so from from that standpoint I have people around me we have advisers we have people in the University that uh are discussing this uh and it's a it's not just Ward making a decision it's it's a group that are thinking about how to handle these cases and handle the situations that come forward and so for me there are times that we're going to battle but there are also times that we're going to say we were wrong we did gota and that's that's the piece That's The Duality that we have to have we just can't do it publicly but I don't want to your question people to think that we just sit and accept everything uh that is thrown our way gotcha all right so let's let's rewind the tape since we are sort of uh addressing narratives I've heard you kind of discuss the the perception of your um your desire to retain Jim Harbaugh I don't want to belabor the point because I know you've plowed this ground before uh but going back to 2020 all the way up to this departure to to go to the Chargers I mean what was your what was your posture uh with with Jim let's just start with that that initial um decision uh in the in the winter of 2020 because I have my my thoughts I think I know how things went down I think I know what what the sides were and I think I know where you where you uh where you fell in that uh but set the record straight I mean where did you fall and what were the voices you were hearing and what was ultimately H you know what what I know where you we know what the decision was but what did you ultimately uh put to the side in order to go and make the decision that you made well first of all Sam it was uh it was lonely because there were there The “lonely” decision to keep Jim Harbaugh in 2020 there weren't a lot of people other than me that thought I should keep J at the time um and those voices were out uh they were aggressively uh shouting in saying in different ways by shouting I mean social media posts emails all kind of things um where people were wanted him gone and ultimately I made a decision that Jim was a great coach I have known Jim since I was a freshman here at the University of Michigan I have a great appreciation for him and what he brings to the table as a coach and as a person uh and all the all the values and things that he has helped develop here with our student athletes that one season didn't stop Jim harball from being a great coach but apparently in other people's minds it did so we evaluated the program we sat down I talked talked to him we talked about how and what is needed to to drive more success than we had in that particular year and how can we beat Ohio State and ultimately from that conversation I decided that Jim was the right person to move this Pro program forward we had the right plan he executed it and it and it worked the way it worked but the same people who back then were calling for me to be fired because I kept them are the same people who think I wanted him to go that's absurd absolutely positively absurd and so that that is a narrative that is ridiculous people don't understand they don't know who I am in how I think about it but they should know with the fact that in the face of everybody telling me to fire him I kept him but but yet because he's looking and because he goes out to to a going into the pros Jim was a pro player far longer than he was a Michigan player student athlete he was in the Pro he he went all the way to the Super Bowl and he lost to his brother but Jim is ultra competitive unbelievably competitive as a person and so his desire ultimately is that he wanted to go back to the pros to try to win at that level at that point in time when he had looked the past three years he had won Big 10 championships he had beat Ohio State so he he now then decides well I want to take a look and I was supportive of it because I knew that was important to him so for me I I just you know it's I'm not going to battle everybody who who has these ideas about what our relationship was about look in a I don't always agree with my bosses he didn't always agree with me that's life that's that's that's life in the workplace that you're gonna have differences of opinion you're gonna have to work it out but more than not Jim and I agreed on a lot and that's what helped to drive the success the partnership that we had the things that we did together to help make Michigan football where it is today and to help him drive success I'm proud of and I'm not gonna let anybody tell me what I think about Jim Harbaugh and I want W wanted Jim Harbaugh to go it's ridiculous and I'm quite frankly I'm tired of it and I'm not gonna keep talking about it because I know I look I was hesitant to even bring it up it's just a it's a passion for me because I I can't people who don't who are not in the know all of a sudden want to talk about the relationship and what it was like well well indulge me for for one second I I was hesitant to bring it up because I knew it was something that you are tired of of talking about but no but I'm passionate about it saying but it it it is revisionist because I remember there were a lot of former players who were on the whole time to move on there were people in the upper levels of admin who were it's time to move on there a lot of fans who is time to move on certainly there were some who were supportive of retaining them too but it wasn't like there was this unanimous we need to keep Jim there was like there was the Hatfields and The McCoys yeah but there there were more people on the side of get rid of him for various reasons then they were then I got messages to keep him I can tell you that I mean this wasn't a half and half it wasn't split down the middle back in 2020 people were done friends of mine close friends of mine were done players my teammates I know I know I know people who play with both of us done I understand I understand I remember but ultimately Sam I made the decision that I made because I believed in Jim and his ability to coach and Lead so so you said something and then I'll move on after this because I want to talk about Jawan I want I know I know I know I know I know I want to talk about Jan um I On how he dealt with Harbaugh looking at the NFL every year reconciled in my mind that Jim had parallel dreams I'm not speaking for Jim this is just my perception of him that the cost of doing business the cost of having Jim Harbaugh as Michigan's coach was that he was gonna look that that you just had to accept that yeah that on an annual basis he was gonna take a look at the NFL uh that you were going to have to build that into your uh into recruiting that hey you're going to have to offset that with with parents and whatnot with current players was that something that you accepted as as ad or was that something that you battled as ad well one of the things I always have done in my career is I've never ever stopped people from if if you want to take a look at something else take a look uh I don't want people to feel trapped by me and decisions I make and and and putting people backing people into Corners to make a decision either you either you're going to stay here or you're G to leave Jim and I talked throughout those processes and like I said I had an understanding of where he was and why and so for me I was willing to have let him do the things that he was doing because I knew how important it was to him and we had a plan if he did leave so I wasn't sitting waiting and then all of a sudden I would do this plan and and put it in action or or develop it at that time um but I wanted to be supportive of him like I am of many of my staff all almost all of my staff and what they want to do so for me um I appreciated what he had done at that point and how he had done it uh and I was supportive of him uh as he he looked and he made decisions to come back um so you know all the stuff that's out there manag is just ridiculous and again it's not that we didn't have our differences we did but the the the feeling the the sense of people out there is just dead wrong about me not wanting Jim Harbaugh around and and not doing enough to try to keep him we we did a lot to try to keep him um but the Chargers did a lot to to bring him to the NFL so uh it is it is what it is it's competition at the highest level and and uh I as I told him when I when he called me I said man I wish you luck I'm sad for us but I'm happy for you and I wish you the best and I and I'll be pulling for you all right we got to pay some bills on the radio so we'll take this break here on the Michigan Insider on the big 1050 wtka on the big 1050.ti and be back on the other side on the stream we'll stay right here with you uh so Ward uh while we're in the break we can certainly uh talk about you uh going over to Young Mr Chiron Moore making that decision to hand the Reigns uh to to young Mr Moore over there it's exciting times for for him over there in Shin Beck Hall well it should be yeah I mean uh you know it's Thoughts on Sherrone Moore it's coming up on Saturday that he will officially you know coach his first game as the head coach of the program and um you know you don't often get an opportunity to watch somebody perform in a role um and because of the circumstances I had the opportunity to watch him on the sidelines as the acting head coach for four games uh and I was impressed with what uh and how he managed and handled the team handled the challenges that were were thrusted upon Him particularly in the pen game um in the way uh that he was able to lead the team and organize everything and and put the game plan together under all of that pressure that was on him and the team um it was just impressive and Jim had T talked to me before about uh you know thinking Chiron shiron can Chiron could replace him and so that was an active discussion it's like if I go it should be shiron it should be Chiron yeah and I and I'm not a coaching waiting type of person but it was after the Penn State game that I said to Jim I said see what you see in him I see what you see in him and and um and I I really do have an appreciation for for what he's doing and how he's handling himself and those kind of things and so um but yeah we we had had an active conversation about that as as we do I I do it with a lot of my staff like who if something happened to you who who would it be um but uh Jim really really talked about him early on and uh at after like I said after the Penn State game I I did see it and um Chiron is doing an excellent job I've been in meetings with him with the team uh with his staff uh I've seen him on uh how he operates on the field during practice um we've seen him in the in four games as a head coach now we get to see him as not the acting head coach is the head coach and so I'm I'm excited for him and his family and uh I'm excited for the team yeah man yeah so we're going to get into uh when we retur you know how much time we have left in the in the break shoot Ira message to see how much longer we Thoughts on Dusty May have in the break uh because over on the basketball side of things another hire Dusty May yeah you know that wasn't a a hire that just came to fruition in the in a week's time in a month's time you had been you had been vetting Dusty may you had been watching Dusty May from afar for you have been evaluating him for a while yeah well you know as as I do in in a lot of sports I take a look and understand the landscape that's out there you're watching games and as I tell my wife I'm not just watching games just to watch games you know at times I'm watching people and and coaches and how their style is and I was impressed with uh with Dusty uh the entire run the year before uh to the final four and the way he handled himself the way his team played and obviously I wasn't thinking at the time you know um that I was going to make a change with Jawan but it it it's just you know you watch him I watched others who I I was impressed with as well um and uh so yeah the valuation process doesn't just start the you know the day you make the decision it's overtime and you you have a sense I don't you know it the the old adage was ads have a list in a drawer well I happen to have a list in my mind of different people that I'm impressed with at different sports but uh in general it's um it it was it was it was a great process and uh to bring him on and we are back folks here on the Michigan Insider on the big 1050 wtka online at wtk on the big 1050.ti hire for you uh a uh a man a player and a lum near and dear to your heart still near and dear to your heart and I know that was a tough decision so so reflect for me about when you came to it and why you came to it as much as you're willing to share publicly well first of all it it was the hardest decision I've made in my career because of what you just said a lot of Firing Juwan Howard was hardest decision in my career respect for him as a person um I've been uh I've gotten to know him very well over the past five years obviously was impressed with him as a player and what he had done in at Michigan and in the pros him as a person you know going back to get his degree because he promised his grandmother he would um so you you couldn't find a better person uh ultimately though Sam I made the choice to make a change because I didn't like the direction we were headed and I didn't think it was going to be any different this year and so for me with the support of the president I sat down with Jawan to talk about it I hadn't walked into that that that room thinking I was going to do it I knew it was possible I had that in my mind but you did but you hadn't made up your mind before the meeting no um and I just felt that it it wasn't going to be any different and I felt that if if that was the case in my mind let's not let's not drag this out um and so for me again it was the hardest decision uh uh that I've made in my career but ultimately sometimes you have to make those hard decisions and you have to live with them and I wish him all the best and I appreciate the five years and what he gave back as a head coach I would do it all over again I would hire him again given the even what I know now to to lead the program because it a lot of it is the circumstances The Way Things fall out a lot of it is how you you handle it as a coach and and what you do and decisions you make but he's um I I'm I'm happy to have had him uh as our head coach for five years I I just I think the world of him um and I I hope he will get a opportunity in the pros um to be a head coach because I think I don't think one job defines what a person can be other opportunities may be better for him to thrive in and succeed in a way that is at the highest level and I think Jan can produce that so I hope he gets that opportunity either in the pros or in On how he began monitoring Dusty May years ago college yeah you know it an interesting um insight into how um you have to think as an athletic director how PE you know when it comes to to coaches and putting together lists shout out to my my good friend Charles Ramsey when Jaan was uh he had the diance with the Lakers a few years back and then they were courting him got a call from ramsy said um yeah um cuz cuz Dusty started out with Rams over Houston Michigan first job and he said he said yeah my my guy my guy Dusty this is before the run this was for the run at FAU yeah he was at FAU but they hadn't gone to the final four he said yeah he said yeah uh my guy Dusty is I got I got Ward keeping an eye on so even back then yeah even back then even before the Run you're already yep keeping an eye on on guys so you got to have your antenna up for for coaches across the country this is what you have to do as an athletic you got to be building your list of coaches right well right I mean those things you read at the beginning uh you know the way I drive Success is Not By sitting passively by you know I don't you know I it it's just not one of these things where you activate something immediately you have to know the landscape in in which you're operating the people out there that you feel could possibly be at uh with work with you at Michigan or wherever you are and so um there's a value in that Sam that I I I guess it's just the way I am um but I'm always um curious about who's out there and what they're doing and it's not because I want I want our coaches to be ultra successful but at the bottom line is things change things happen and you have to be prepared and so yeah I've been Charles and I remain friend since he worked at Michigan and I worked at Michigan back in the day and so um he was talking to me about him and and then the opportunity happened that he he made the run that they made um to the final four and it just everything was just impressive about him uh and so I didn't we didn't even start we didn't even talk to the search firm until after Jawan and I talked and I made the decision uh because I also believe that's the right thing to do and the right way to handle it but once we did that uh Friday had the conversation that Friday afternoon early evening with the search firm he was one of the ones that I immediately told him I was interested in in seeing if he he had any interest in Michigan uh and so uh while the process started long before and I knew who he was long before it it really was a a very quick seven days right right so Why Michigan took a more conservative approach at the advent of NIL speaking of Jan one of the things that he I know he had an issue with and one of the things that had has improved so let me let me start out with a positive yeah we had several players in at this very desk that you're sitting at saying hey man nil at Michigan has improved dramatically they're like oh my God man the opportunities here yeah are are amazing yeah but they weren't always saying that and Jaan was out spoken like I he did not think that the the nil opportunities that were being afforded to the players uh were improving fast enough he felt like they should be improving at a more rapid Pace he didn't feel like Michigan was being aggressive enough nil wise so what I I gotta ask you you know at the at the Advent of in inil at the in its Genesis um why not be were aggressive because it felt like to me that was going to be the time where Michigan could level the playing field like all these schools in the South I won't name any names I'm from the I know you're from the South but all these schools who could get down like they've been getting down forever well now Michigan who is always GNA do things a certain kind away well now Michigan can compete with those schools via nil and it just it it it wasn't that way out the gate and so whether it's me feeling that way or fans feeling that way or even Jawan feeling that way was was that the right feeling and and what about that thought that you know Michigan was really conservative and while we're coming Michigan is coming along still not super aggressive in Iowa what would you say to that that perception about Michigan's nil approach well first of all we we had been talking about I found notes back to 2019 where we started talking about nil and I have always been a proponent of our student athletes being able to uh use their name image and likeness to bring to make money to do things that they want to do um you know with their with their names and and it starts as easy as jersey sales we would have first on to approve jersey sales for our student athletes and have that um but you have to remember at the time in in 2021 we had just started to deal with the first NCAA investigation so for me you know there there's this s this sense that well you're you're being conservative the there's a couple there's two reasons one we had this NCAA issue and so we what are we supposed to do go out be ultra aggressive get break rules at a time where we're being investigated for breaking rules okay and so yeah we we didn't push the envelope like others pushed it because we were dealing with something in in terms of Investigation where if we started to violate more rules now we're now we're adding to the rules violated okay and then if I'm more aggressive and that happens and then people go well why was Ward more aggressive he should have known we were dealing with an NCAA investigation okay all right all right that there's two sides to it the second side is we didn't have that culture and we still have donors who find it unacceptable to give money to student athletes I I keep saying to our donor base it's okay it is it is legal now but you have to remember I played for a coach in both shim who would scare anybody who tried to give his players anything and so we have we have started to shift the culture of people's understanding that it's okay to support our student athletes now a lot of the the people who say that we don't do enough with nil I always say we have Champion Circle uh we have other collectives that that are there they'll take five doll they'll take $10 they'll take $100 so if everybody who's complaining would just go to the Champion Circle website and start donating we would we would absolutely accept and thank you for for the donations but in in other words we have to have a culture where people start to say I can do that and I've been out talking for years since this started to say to people it's okay for us to give things are shifting things are changing it hasn't been a part of our culture like it has been at other places so now we have to adjust to that and I think we have and I think that's why you're seeing the major shift and the major change uh the champion circle's done a great job hail nil uh stadium in Maine they they're all sort of continuing to drive the the need the desire I want our student athletes to be supportive we're about to start paying $23.5 million doll next year to our student athletes in Revenue share and I'm fine with it we're gonna find a way to do it we're gonna we're gonna find a way to increase Revenue decrease expenses so we can Revenue share with our student athletes and so for me there is no uh lack of you know desire for that to happen but at the time the aggressiveness the lack of aggressive is aggressiveness was because we were under under that investigation and so we couldn't I I couldn't in my in in in beholding to the job I have put the continue to put the university in a position where we're going against the NCAA rules like some others were challenging I got you Will revenue sharing change the paradigm for Olympic sports at U-M? all right so you mentioned 2030 there's so many uh things I want to get into with with nil but you mentioned Revenue sharing we only got two minutes left so let let's let me use that to segue into that piece of it Ross Bor and Ohio State was talking about Revenue sharing being on the horizon and you know being Forward Thinking saying hey you know what these Olympic sports we're probably going to be in a position to have uh to treat them more like club sports yeah in in the future is that a pivot that you see um sort of happening across the the conference across the country uh is that a pivot that you see happening at Mich at Michigan I mean how do you see Revenue sharing affecting the landscape ac across Michigan's athletic campus well first of all we're working through a right now um me and my leadership team our head coaches will be a part of that and I've already started a conversation uh with them in August about it um the president uh the board our CFO our provos uh there are a lot of people that are involved in the discussion about how to do it and where we go as an institution with our athletic programs we're not going to drop Sports uh I said that to the board and I've said that to our coaches um but we also have to realize we're in a different we're approaching very quickly next year a different way of doing things that with an added expenditure line on the budget of 23 and a half million now our budget last year we came in at plus 200,000 so that gives you a sense of the the magnitude of the addition but now we're getting some extra C FP money but that's in two years that's not next year um so we'll offset a a good chunk of that a little bit more than half of that with C with additional cfp revenue and so uh it is not as dire as the 23 and a half million would sound particularly in two years now next year we have to absorb it all uh but I can tell you the university has been extremely supportive in in their willingness to think about things in different ways to to be supportive president Ono is um absolutely supportive of trying to find a way to support our athletic programs as you know Sam we have a budget that what we produce we spent the university the state um they don't give us any money towards our uh Athletic program we don't even have student fees when I was at Buffalo and Yukon we had both we had University support support and student fee support we haven't done that here uh that has been a luxury that maybe uh is going to change as we move forward how it will and how much it it might uh the the university May support us and and think through is up to the plan that that I'll present to the president to the board but ultimately we want to maintain uh the strength of all of our programs we believe I believe in a broad-based program uh and I believe in what we do in uh our Olympic sports uh and also in football and men's and women's basketball and hockey right in the sports that produce Revenue so for us um there're going to be some some difficult discussions and choices that we're going to have to make but ultimately the goal is to find a way to continue to have the success that we have across the board in as many sports as we can uh and with 29 Sports you know we Sam we have a success problem you know you you read about the great things that we did last the year before and uh last year and the year before last year we won seven Big 10 championships and still led to Big 10 uh in terms of number of championships we finished second in nine Sports so we have at Michigan a success problem right where are you going to cut what are you cutting out what what program are not you know very good or don't matter they all matter they're all driving success and I haven't even I didn't even look at how many we finish third in right so for me uh we're g to do everything we we can do uh we're going to maintain all the programs we're going to do everything we can do to continue to support them uh at a level for them to compete for Big 10 championships uh and we believe I believe that we if we compete for Big 10 championships we're going to compete for national championships yeah sustainability doesn't seem to uh so it's not a problem for Michigan not to speak out of your pocket and not to speak out of the the the not to speak for the future and the ongoing success uh for your programs like it's going to be easy uh but it's just you know you're fiscally responsible uh the the coaches they you have great coaches they continue to recruit really well feels like it's set up for continued success but you don't exist in a V oh no no doubt so you you wonder how the the landscape changing is going to affect things I'll close out with this Are there discussions about merit based compensation in the Big 10? are there any discussions about merit-based compensation I asked this question for this reason I'm looking at this football schedule that I see in this first season of this of this new Big 10 I see Michigan playing USC and uh Washington I know it's not the Washington that we expected it to be but uh you know Washington's on the schedule Michigan's playing Ohio State of course they're playing Oregon I mean it's the monster monsters of the Midway Ohio state is playing a monster schedule then I look at Iowa and ruter and their schedules aren't like that so it's like okay well if I'm playing the TV schedule I should be getting a TV money and you talk about this $23.5 million right Michigan is g to pay the $235 million some of these other schools aren't going to pay that you can pay up to the 23 and half million so to me it all shapes up to a model where some of these schools should be getting more money than other schools in this equation is that a discussion that's being had at this point no no we haven't had that discussion at this point um and I don't know if we will U but we have I think five or six years left on the the TV agreement we we recently signed we started last year CBS is coming in fully this year um with it we have been a league that always shares equally that doesn't mean that it will always continue that way but there's been no discussions um that have been had at the Big 10 by me or separate with other schools to talk about um pulling away or getting more money at this present time we're going to we're going to work with our colleagues across the Big 10 uh and figure it out uh as we move forward um but that the door is open I will say to uh other areas as they come available in terms of revenue from the conference to look at a balance of understanding uh you know where the um the value of certain things say say a jersey patch if the the Big 10 did a jersey patch you know I don't know if we will or not that a jersey patch on on a Michigan Jersey shouldn't be shared equally with with others right you get me we're sharing the television equally and and those things but the the discussion is that uh if we do something like that if we start to have those things that the Michigan Ohio State Penn State whoever else USC whoever else is determined uh by the Big 10 and really by the media uh Market in the in the sell and the value uh will extract the value that they bring to the table for that and it will still help to rise others and and that I think is my colleagues understand that and uh and see it that that's a that's a way that we need to look at it for those particular things now who knows what the future is going to hold uh but for now there's been no talk and I haven't brought it up and yeah well I mean but what you just said that that's that's something that there there are ways to augment what's going on right now in ways that make the schools that are driving the revenue in the conference make them more whole right like like should be being done so we're we're out of time well this this just means that we we need to do this again man not not to put you on the spot yeah yeah but we need to do this again so anyway we are out of time folks Ward appreciate you coming by man thanks for having me say and and our promise you before the end of the year we'll do this again all right there you go he said it on tape he said it on tape folks that's going to do it for us thanks for watching another edition of the Michigan Insider on the big 1050 wtka